Author: Lameen

I love being pleasantly surprised and that’s what happened to me during my short trip to Cairo recently. If you’ve been to Cairo, you will know that apart from all the history in the place with pharonic stuff, the pyramids, the Islamic Museum, the 1000’s of mosques, dinner on the Nile, etc, one thing distinguishes the place, traffic jams. This means that wherever you stay in Cairo, determines what you do ad have time for, as spending hours in traffic is not ideal if you only have a few days to visit. On what was my second trip to Cairo, I had to stay on the outskirts, in Heliopolis, which didn’t really bother me as I had previously done the tourist stuff on my first trip almost 2 years ago. However, I wasn’t too saddened, as I learnt that there was an American style mall (City Stars Mall) not too far from where I was staying and that even with traffic, it would still take me about 10-15 minutes to get there. So, off I went, thinking, for espresso, it’s all going to be about the image – selling espresso, lattes and cappuccino without much preparation and just to escape from the hustle and bustle and think you are in New York drinking coffee.

I did some prior research – there’s Cilantro (strange name for a cafe, as it’s what Americans call the World’s most popular herb, coriander – the main herb used in Indian and Chinese cooking). Anyway, Cilantro is like the Egyptian equivalent of Starbucks, similar in decor, with dark brown, comfy chairs, bookcase style centre piece, but with smoking and no-smoking sitting areas. As it was still morning, I ordered a cappuccino, which came with a small biscotti. I checked the barista area and spotted a La Cimbali machine, but noticed that it was being used only for frothing milk – I couldn’t see what machine was used to make the espresso part of my drink – Shame ! Anyway, the drink was like your typical mega chain espresso drink. I was nevertheless impressed with their wide variety of coffee cocktails and their choice of different types of coffee blends.

So my suspicions were confirmed, but not for long. After lunch at an indoor version of a corner Parisian/Italian style cafe bistro, Casper and Gamibini’s, what do I see in the corner – a La Marzocco coffee machine – could it be that one of the best coffee machines was situated here in Cairo. Yes ! So I ordered an espresso and went to watch the barista do his stuff and got chatting to another barista that was intrigued by my curiosity. After a while he started talking about the WBC (World Barista Championships) and how La Marzocco sponsors the event. The preparation for my espresso followed the normal rules, but I don’t think their coffee beans was either ground right or fresh enough, as my crema disappeared under 1 minute. In any case, I got an espresso.

However, thinking that all was lost and heading back to my hotel, I took a wrong turn and entered into the “posh” part of the Mall, which is expanding by the month and what do I see, Caffe Del Doge – the famous caffe from Venice, who I learnt previously where now franchising their brand to other parts of the World. Anyway in summary, the espresso was so good that I came back twice in 2 hours for more. See next post for more details on Caffe Del Doge, Cairo.

Another cafe worth trying too in the City Stars Mall is Caffe Alfredo, where they have a La Marzocco machine and produce adequate espresso. Also, Starbucks have 2 cafes in that Mall – their first 2 on the African continent and there’s a Costa Caffe and another Egyptian chain called Beanos, but with Caffe Del Doge I was satisfied and didn’t venture to any others – once you’ve found the real thing, settling for anything less is difficult or at least wasting money and trying something you are not sure off, is risky. I also learnt that Cafe Supreme – a Canadian Coffee Shop Franchise – is due to open soon at the same mall. For now, I think Caffe Del Doge in Cairo’s City Stars Mall serves the best espresso drinks in a mall that I have been to. Highly recommended ! Ma’assalam as they say in Cairo.

Following on from the tradition in Dubai, where they prefer to buy the best and the biggest, you will be glad to know that when it comes to coffee machines, they have not compromised and have bought the best – La Marzocco. Yes ! probably the best commercial coffee machine in the World. It’s like the top salesman at La Marzocco went to Dubai on holiday and has retired there, with all the machines he or she sold. In the biggest mall outside north America, the Mall of the Emirates, almost all the coffee shops and there are many, have a La Marzocco machine. The only downside, as with many of the good stuff, is that the machine is not being used properly to produce good espresso. In testing the baristas, I may have been a bit unfair, as I only really ordered espressos – the main way to test how good a barista is. I also feel comfortable only drinking espressos or non-milk coffee drinks in the afternoon – after all I was on holiday with the family, and by the time we got out bed, had a lavish breakfast, it was of course after-noon. In any case, most of the cafes tend to follow the American style layout and offerings- dark wooden interior with dim lights, cheesecakes, muffins, etc with the usual offerings of espresso, cappuccino, lattes and smoothies. With so many Starbucks and Costa Cafes there too (largest UK coffee chain), people seem to choose a cafe that they are used to.

There are some that try and differentiate themselves with the decor, like Art Cafe on the second floor of the mall, which interestingly has a pop-art decor with palm like cup seats in bright orange. You also have Barista (dangerous name for a cafe, if it doesn’t serve coffee like a true barista), with some coffee history written on the wall. Actually Barista is India’s second largest coffee chain, but they have recently been bought by the Italian coffee maker, Lavazza – smart move ! Barista also boasted that all their coffees were roasted in Italy and their lattes weren’t bad – I didn’t try their espresso as I had a free voucher for a latte – hmmmm !  There’s also a Dubai coffee chain called Second Cup, which also sell coffee beans to take home, but I wasn’t convinced by the way they were stored, nor by their freshness and so I didn’t enquire. In the mall, they also have Paul – the famous French pattisserie, opening stores in London and getting big in Dubai too. So if you fancy a nice croissant or pain aux raisin with coffee, then head over there too – it’s quite popular because I think people love the cakes. Another French style outfit, Le Pain Quotidien (also on Marylebone High Street, London) serve hearty soup, salads, sandwiches and cakes and of course coffee. However, there was one coffee shop I really wanted to try in the Mall of the Emirates, the Emporio Armani Caffe – designer coffee from Italy. The ambience was dark, more like a night club scene, but the coffee was not as good as the clothes. I think there’s a gap for a really good quality coffee shop offering coffee made with real attention. Anyone want to move to Dubai and set up a coffee shop ?

Outside of the malls, the only place I managed to try for coffee was Dome Cafe (an Australian outfit) and for me, the coffee here was the best, perhaps the strong coffee culture from Australia managed to transport itself to this cafe. Dome Cafe is situated in tourist magnet, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, where there’s lots of restaurants and souvenir style shops to keep you occupied. I’ve heard that there are many other places, like in the Bastakiya district of old Dubai, but with 40C heat outside and no car, I decided to leave that adventure for another trip when I visit again God willing.

For me, no trip to London, should exclude a coffee stop at Flat White, 17 Berwick Street, Soho, London. On my third trip, I got a bit excited, snapping pictures for my website from the outside, inside, etc and even went as far as ordering a flat white coffee drink (similar to a caffe latte) and an espresso – I’ve never ordered two types of coffees before at a shop in one go and even the guys behind the bar looked at me strangely, but I thought, “I can’t come here and not order a flat white, and I can’t come here and not order an espresso from the pros” – so I did. I also managed to get a sit in their small, newly refurbished, but very full of ambience coffee shop. I lounged in the corner and snapped away at the beautiful rosetta latte art in my cup at different intervals as I drank it. I think people were looking at me thinking “he is either mad, hasn’t seen a cup of coffee before, or he is a journalist”, but it didn’t matter, I was comfortable and the wonderful staff at Flat White made me feel at home. I had the flat white coffee drink first (wonderful), then a glass of water to refresh my taste buds and then finished off with a sweetish espresso – their coffee comes from Monmouth Coffee. Flat White were recently voted “Independent Coffee shop of the Year for 2007” by ProjectCafe 6, now open everyday and have a website, so check them on www.flat-white.co.uk, where you can listen to music too. Definitely worth a visit.

Of course, I can’t go to London and not visit some good cafes. First on my list this time was a restaurant/tapas bar called Providores & Tapa Room, 109 Marylebone High Street in Central London and owned by New Zealanders. It was recommended to me by the editor of Olive Food Magazine (my favourite British food magazine). I was naturally excited as there was somewhere else to try apart from my favourites. After a bit of window shopping down on fashionable Marylebone High Street, I arrived at my destination, only to find a queue coming out. At first I was a bit upset, thinking, I’ve flown 100s miles to get here and I only have about 2 hours to visit coffee shops and I have to queue – then I thought, “hang on a minute” this means I’m onto something good here, as I’ve only seen queues coming out one coffee shop before; Flat White on Berwick Street, London. So I waited patiently and as the waitress came out checking for numbers, I was almost pleased to say, “just for one and I only want coffee” – well it got me in straight away. The Tapa Room (downstairs of the main restaurant) is quite squashed, with a massive communal table with high chairs bang right in the middle of the shop, supported by small French style cafe chairs and tables round the side. I saw that they were using a commercial Gaggia coffee machine. I ordered my cappuccino as it was still before 12pm and it came with some latte art, a slightly skewed rosetta. I took pictures of my coffee and the shop, which I will share with you when I figure out how to upload them onto my blog, took in the ambience, smelt my coffee and drank it all in almost 2 gulps. Ahhhh ! What a lovely cup of coffee – it went down smoothly – the frothed milk was silky smooth and the coffee just blended into my stomach – I did not feel like I’d just drank something heavy, which shows the quality of the coffee preparation. I hear that they sell their organic coffee beans, which apprarently comes from Monmouth Coffee shop.